A study conducted by Statistics Canada which evaluated the mental and physical health of young people in Canada reveals that the mental health of nearly half of the participants declined between 2019 and 2023.
The report, published in September 2024, states that 49 per cent of participants between ages 16 and 21 years who felt optimistic about school in 2019 did not feel the same in 2023.
The statistic highlights the importance of mentalhealth support services for young students . Student Mental Health at the University of Regina offers a variety of services for students that are free of cost and can be tailored to individual needs.
Jolene Sebastien, a registered psychologist and interim manager at Student Mental Health, has worked previously with Saskatchewan Health Authority and has been with the UofR since 2019.Integrating mental health into an overall health and wellness context and working with young students are some important aspects of her job, says Sebastian. She believes that mental health becomes important for students because “fundamental to mental health is being able to think and reason well.”
“If we aren’t taking care of our emotional health, we aren’t taking care of our physical health and we aren’t taking care of our overall mental health it ends up creating situations where sometimes we aren’t making the best choices. We aren’t prioritizing well,” she said.
Sebastien spoke about the step care model of the Student Mental Health services . “This framework is a little bit more robust because not every concern, not every issue necessarily warrants or is a fit for … individual therapy sessions. It creates the ability for people to then make choices about what they’re wanting, when it fits, how it fits. We have … self-directed resources that we can point people to where we can be confident that they are evidence based [and] that they are legitimate regarding the organizations that they’re attached to,” said Sebastien.
Sebastien talked about partnering with the peer-support online community called Togetherall where students can engage anonymously with their peers to get the support they seek. “It is an exciting service and it’s great because we’re sponsoring it. It means that it’s free for our University of Regina students,” she said.
Since the pandemic, Student Mental Health continues to offer e-services for students who find it difficult to attend in-person counselling on campus. Sessions can be brief or more extensive depending upon individual needs.
Sebastien said the psychoeducational skill-building sessions called UR Wells that are offered virtually have also been popular for those who don’t want to travel to campus. “These are a self-improvement webinar series…. We did have some of these psycho-educational seminars pre-COVID in person. Over COVID we were running them as well and then we really have expanded out.”
Sebastien says that the office has ramped up advertising for these webinars, which cover topics like motivation, procrastination, exam stress and self-care.
Sebastien explained how Student Mental Health’s approach towards addressing different student concerns is rooted in behavioural therapy, which helps people become aware of their own behavioural patterns. “ “Oftentimes we’re putting ourselves a bit on a pedestal as far as what we’re expecting we should [know about ourselves]. [Our] skill-based approach … creates the ability for us to then impart …wisdom that we have ….It creates that ability for self-compassion and also imparts the skill of doing things differently going forward so that we don’t fall into repeating the same patterns,” she said.
Sebastian further spoke about how offering help becomes tricky when student autonomy and freedom of choices are factored in. ““We value the self-determination and right for people to choose and have that choice. The difficult and uncomfortable part in the helping profession is also respecting somebody’s right to choose not to seek help. For them at that point in time [that’s] what’s fitting and best for them,” said Sebastien.
Sebastien said that the staff at Student Mental Health hope that through all of the different services that they have, including direct, indirect, intensive, casual and informal options, that students will find help that fits their needs.
“It takes a lot of courage to reach out and ask for help and one of the things that I can offer is to hopefully ease some of that nervousness or that anxiety around connecting for help, whether it be [from] us, whether it be Togetherall, whether it be some of the other amazing services on campus like the online therapy unit. If you identify that you need assistance, that you need help, reach out! ….We are here for you,” she said. Student Mental Health, which was previously located in the Student Success Centre in Riddell Centre has now relocated to the Student Wellness Centre in Wakpá Towers (WA119). Students can learn more about their services and seeking help through their website
